Assessment in this course includes continuous assessment of class participation, presentations, and a final essay. Class participation (20%) assesses students' engagement in seminar discussions, questions, and debates. Individual and group presentations are also assessed (30%). The main assessment is a 10-12 page final essay (50%) on an approved topic demonstrating knowledge, skills, and original thought. Problems faced include student dissatisfaction with grades, free-riders in groups, and assessing skills like creative thinking.

1. 1
Assessment
Etymology: Ad sedere (lat.) = to sit beside
(providing guidance and feedback to the learner)
Definition
1.the tasks we set for students and
2.the way in which we mark these tasks (grades, criteria)
3.system of measuring student learning and the fulfillment
of course goals

2. 2
Assessment
Taking a sample of what students do, making inferences and
estimating the worth of their actions.
sample what students do inferences estimating the worth
course unit writing essays achievements grades
whole course solving problems potential marks
general practical work abilities recommendations
oral presentations attitudes qualifications
motivation
P
R
O no explicit criteria wide variations
B too general no marking schemes
L not linked to real-life
E
M
S
towards particular skills
- not representative
- do not mach the objectives
- too narrow
- over-weighted

3. 3
Individual task:
1. Please answer the following two questions:
1a. What is the purpose of assessment in case of your
course? What type of knowledge, skills, abilities you
measure with it?
1b. What problems do you face when assessing your
students?
2. Compare your answers with your colleagues in
groups. One member of the group should summarize the
issues, and share it with all of us.

4. 4
Problems with assessment
Skopje
highschool legacy
departmental regulations/traditions
grading policy
inflation of grades, low grading criteria
wide range of student quality (different level)
cheating, plagiarism – ways of preventing them
large number of students
lack of basic knowledge
poor skills (writing, critical thinking, interpretation)
weak argumentation
students’ fear of authoritative professors
students jumping to hasty conclusions

5. 5
Problems with assessment
(CDC grantees)
stressful atmosphere
cheating, plagiarism
no objective criteria, subjectivity
students’ dissatisfaction with the grade received,
negotiating the grade
free-riders in case of group projects
sometimes measuring memorizing rather than
understanding
poor skills are often and obstacle to perform well
students’ attitude towards assessment (not motivated)
different background and level
transparency in methods used
how to assess creative thinking?

6. 6
What to assess?
process product
continuous end - final
formative
(feedback)
summative
(judgement)
knowledge application
convergent divergent
identical results own thinking
"right answers" variety
absolute
achievement
individual
progress
at a fixed point in
time
from starting
point
holistic serialist

7. 7
Role of assessment
1.To classify or grade students (often as an administrative
task)
2.To enable student progression (access to further studies,
readiness for a more advanced work)
3.To guide improvement (feedback on what needs to be
improved)
4.To facilitate students’ choice of options (what he or she is
good at)
5.To diagnose faults and enable students to rectify mistakes
(feedback)
6.To give teachers feedback on the successes/failures of
teaching (what has been learnt)
7.To motivate students (by acknowledging progress, mastery)
8.To provide statistics (for course evaluation, etc.)
9. To enhance the development of skills and learning in
students (assessment as part of the learning itself – learning
by doing)

8. 8
Key Assessment Values
(major characteristics of adequate assessment methods)
1.valid – it should assess what you want to measure (the extent to
which the assessment measures the learning outcomes of the
course)
2.reliable – they should be marked to the same standard (to which
extent the results can be trusted, are there clear criteria for
assessment)
 intra-judge reliability - same teacher, same performance, same
judgement, different occasions
 inter-judge reliability – different judges, same performance, same
judgement, same occasions
3.fair – students should have equal opportunity to succeed (the form
of assessment should not discriminate against certain students
4.formative - needs to be a means of delivering feedback
5.timely – to allow for formative feedback
6.incremental – small units of assessment to build up into a final
grade
7.demanding – to assure quality and be able to differentiate
8.efficient – feasible, doesn’t take all of your or your students’ time

9. 9
Assessment Criteria
Homo Australopitecus to his sons:
“Go out and kill your first bear.” (a pass-fail exercise) – criterion
referenced
“Go out and kill as many bears as you can.” (rank order) – norm
referenced
Criterion-referenced – did the student learn what needed to be learnt?, fit
with the objectives of the course, “mastery learning”, “judgement about
individual performance,” absolute, used mainly at post-graduate level,
encourages cooperation
Norm-referenced - which students performed better then the others,
position in the class, rank students, “bell curve”, top 10 percent in the class,
grade distribution, etc.) – “judgement about people’s place within a group,”
relative, used mainly at undergraduate level, encourages competition
compromise = criteria-graded assessment
criteria for each grade is specified

10. 10
Assessment criteria
Implicit
implicit to the teacher
not known to the student
explicit to the teacher
not revealed to the student
criteria revealed to
student
but hidden what is
evidence
criteria provided to
students
evidence clearly
described
Explicit

11. 11
Work in groups:
You will be put in groups based on the assessment
method you use for your course. Discuss with your
colleagues the advantages (what they are good for),
and disadvantages of that method.
Take into consideration:
 Assessment as learning?
What type of knowledge, skills, attitudes etc. you measure with them
(you can use Bloom’s taxonomy – handout)
What is the grading criteria
What transferable skills you can develop with that method
Advantages (+) Disadvantages (-)

12. 12
Types of assessment
Objective tests: multiple choice, true/false, and short answer
Good:
•good for measuring knowledge and understanding
•allows broad coverage of topics
•easy and quick to mark
•no comments needed, feedback is easy (though superficial)
•highly reliable
Bad:
•cannot assess abilities to construct an argument or display original
thinking
•expensive to design and produce
•stressful (time limit)
(Computer based assignments, computer marking, computer feedback)

13. 13
Oral Exams
Good:
- Very personal
- You can ask further questions (deep or surface learning?)
- Assesses oral fluency and comprehension
- Assesses interpersonal skills
- Assesses ability to think quickly and diagnose problems
- Immediate, oral feedback, comments
Bad:
- Based on memorizing
- No anonymity, therefore not objective
- Time consuming
- Justifying the grade (reliability) – cannot be reproduced, no record
- No assessment of writing skills

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Traditional Written Exams
Good:
- Structured format
- More time and space to say what the student knows
- Assessing writing skills
- Analytical skills (in case of essay type questions)
- Assessing large group of students
- Quick and easy to design
Bad:
- Not everybody is good at exams!
- Memorising
- Cheating
- You cannot ask further questions
- They do not encourage students’ appetite for learning
- Feedback to students is minimal
- Exams do not help learners find out what they have learned
- Markers mark quickly and are often tired and bored
- Surface learning
- No relationship to real life
- No relationship to postgraduate study

15. 15
Useful Tips:
1. Set questions that seek to discover what has been learned, rather than
what has been taught
2. Keep the language simple and unambiguous
3. Give the rubric to the students in class before the exam. Explain it to
them.
4. Avoid trick questions
5. Think about what a student would need to do to answer each question
effectively
6. Have a revision class on materials covered
7. Have an exam preparation class. You can do this in 3 steps:
• display one question and have the class brainstorm answers, then give
a model answer
• give two or three old questions and have the students create essay
plans individually
• then give the class one question to try under exam conditions
8. Ensure that the students have some practice exam questions to try at
home covering all aspects of the course

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‘Open Book’ Exams
•The exam allows student to take in their textbooks.
•Emphasis is not on ‘what students can remember’, but how
they can use the material that they have studied.
•Analysis is very important in this format.
•Designed to measure problem solving abilities and the
application and interpretation of knowledge, rather than
finding the right answer in the book.
‘Thinking’ Exams
One large topic which all students must answer. So they
have 3 hours (for instance) to write one large essay. It is
suggested that they take one hour to think, write notes and
prepare a structure for the essay. Then two hours writing.
This is a challenging format that requires students to bring
together many different elements of the course, use their
‘brains’, and their analytical skills.

17. 17
‘Take-Home’ or Seen Exams
Students are given the exam paper and take it home or
see the exam paper beforehand. Normally they have two
days to a week to finish and submit, or before they sit the
exam.
Good:
- No luck
- Less anxiety so higher quality
- Test more the abilities to research, use resources, etc.
Bad:
- Disruptive of other courses or exams
- Likelihood of cheating and/or plagiarism

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Exam rubric (example):
Written exam consists of two essay questions that are
intended to allow you to synthesize ideas from throughout
the course.
•One essay-type question will be common for all
students.
•The second one will be your choice from a list of
questions.
Each essay will receive a maximum of 25 points; total
points possible are 50.
Passing score: 38 (out of the possible 50 points).
The essays will be assessed using the following rubric:

19. 19
Writing
5 points
•Well organized; carefully reasoned
•Good sense of unity, clarity, and coherence
•Varied and appropriate word usage
•Developed sentence structure
•Few, if any, grammatical or spelling errors
3-4 points
•Essay is organized, but not carefully reasoned
•Adequate unity, clarity, and coherence
•Appropriate word usage and sentence structure
•Minimal grammatical and spelling errors
0-2 points
•Poorly organized, bad logic, superfluous ideas
•Little unity, clarity, and coherence
•Poor word usage
•Numerous grammatical and spelling errors

20. 20
Content
Outstanding: 18-20 points
Good: 14-17 points
Average: 11-13 points
Poor: 0-10 points
The content of the essay will be evaluated on the basis of:
•adequate attention to all portions of the question
•relevance to classroom practice
•justification of ideas
•clear argument with appropriate examples
•thoughtful references to authoritative sources

21. 21
Guide To Essay-Type Questions
95% of essay questions contain certain words which reveal how much work
is required for an "A" grade. For example:
“Reading the media is based on studying myths, codes and discourses.
Discuss.”
List Number of Words: 20
Use no structure at all, simply list the points required. Extra marks may
sometimes be given for ordering the list.
Identify Number of Words: 50
As above, but attempt to link items in sequence, possibly giving a reason
why.
Outline Number of Words: 200
Identify the key points, but add something relevant about each.
Describe Number of Words: 600
As above, but think about more exact and more detailed characteristics of
the topic.

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Discuss Number of Words: 2000
The most favorite essay question type. The good marks can only be
achieved by voicing your own opinion on the subject matter. In the
probable case when you don't have your own opinion, use the opinions
stated by any of the recommended texts' authors. Be assertive; make it
sound like you know what you're talking about.
Explain Number of Words: 4000
As Discuss, but give more detail, using examples and colorful case
studies/diagrams, etc. Don't forget the accepted format of essays which is -
introduction, main body, conclusion - which really means, "say what you're
going to talk about", "talk about it", and "say what you said.“
Prove Number of Words: 5000
Carefully examine the question which should give you the answer you
need to prove. Write down lots of ideas, create a draft. Use strong
arguments, be original, use evidence, examples, etc.
http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/2R183.html Author: Chris Thomas

23. 23
Essays
Measuring higher levels of thinking and more complex intellectual
abilities (argumentation, provide evidence for judgments), requires
research and synthesis
Good:
Analytical Skills must be used
Students can show their real ability (not their skill at writing quickly)
Encourages critical thinking
Some degree of originality
Deep understanding of the subject
Developing academic writing skills
Bad:
Plagiarism
Time consuming for marking
Good feedback requires effort
Tips:
essay plans, draft essays, give out old essays, allow re-writes

24. 24
Role play essays
•Helps students to see the relevance of the task,
and to take a personal interest in it
•Writing becomes more natural and fluent
•It changes students’ attitudes to questions
Ex.1: Write a letter to the Minister of Education protesting
about the lack of schools in your county, giving sociological
arguments and emphasizing evidence in government reports
Ex.2: You have inherited your uncle’s urban estate and are
considering whether it would be more profitable to sell the
property quickly or to wait and speculate. Describe some of
the factors you would consider in making your decision.

25. 25
Assessment
Assessment for my course takes account of both work in class
(individual and group presentations, work in small groups, participation in
discussions, questions to the lecturer, etc.) and the final essay.
Continuous assessment of work at seminars provides motivation for
learning and helps students to acquire skills of critical reading, oral presentation,
discussion and defense of their views in public. The variety of assignments is aimed
to reach out to every student and give him/her an opportunity to participate in this or
that way. Questions, initiatives, debates are strongly encouraged. This way I get
valuable feedback on my teaching, see to what degree students comprehend and
get involved, find out what they have learned (rather than memorized), what issues
remain unclear or need emphasizing, etc.
The final essay is required to be about 10-12 pages long, with a bibliography
no less than ten items. The topic can be picked out from my tentative list or put
forward and negotiated by the student. The essay should be logically structured,
with the main argument pursued clearly and coherently. In their paper, students are
expected to demonstrate their knowledge and comprehension, their ability to apply
theory to practical tasks and express their own judgments on the subject.
The final summative mark for the course is determined by:
1. class participation (small group work, questions, debates, etc.) – 20%;
2. individual and group presentations – 30%;
3. final essay – 50 %.

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Seminar discussions: 20%. Students are expected to be present at all lectures and
seminars. During the seminars they are expected to reflect critically on the mandatory
readings listed below. If one is unable to attend the class, he/she should signal this via e-
mail to the lecturer. Activity in the classroom can be complemented with questions,
suggestions and comments sent to the lecturer 24 hours prior to the meetings.
Another 20% of the final grade is assigned to two two-pages long position papers. The
papers must reflect on the mandatory reading of the week, summarizing its main points
and interpreting it in the light of the previous readings and lectures. The student decides
for which weeks he/she prepares a position paper. The position papers must arrive 24
hours before the seminar to the e-mailbox of the instructors.
The final essay is worth 40% of the final grade. This essay will be a ten pages long
research proposal. The first draft of this paper must be presented and defended in the
classroom. The improved version of the essays must be handed in to the instructors at the
very end of the course. The topic of the essay will be decided during the third week.
The paper must identify a research question, justify it in terms or relevance, describe the
data needed for answering the question, present a hypothetical explanation in terms of
variables, define and operationalize major concepts, assess the validity and reliability of
the measures, discuss the causal mechanism involved and address the possible
alternative explanations. Students are expected to e-mail the first draft of the proposal
before the end of the seventh week to the instructors.
The instructors will send the drafts, on a random basis, to another student, who will be
expected to write a two-pages long criticism (worth another 20%) of the research
proposal. During the ninth, tenth and eleventh week the original proposals and their
criticisms will be discussed in the classroom.

27. 27
1. Seminar Participation (10%): Seminar attendance is mandatory.
Active participation in each seminar will result in full credit.
2. Seminar Presentation (20%): One seminar presentation is required in
which you give an in-depth presentation of an assigned reading or
set of readings. Presentations should include a summary of the main
arguments of the reading, a discussion of how the reading relates to
the broader themes of the course, and questions for discussion.
3. Midterm Exam (30%): The in-class exam will consist of five short-
answer questions, testing your knowledge of concepts discussed in
the first part of the course, and one longer-essay question.
4. Final Project (40%): The final project will provide an analysis of the
impact of … on a particular case, or a comparison of cases, applying
an analytical approach covered in the first part of the course. Students
will be divided into research teams. The team will discuss the
structure of the report in consultation with instructor. Primary research
is strongly encouraged, but not required. The final project will consist
of two parts. (1) A group presentation of 30 minutes, organized in the
style of an academic conference, in which the presentation will be
assessed by an appointed discussant. The presentation will comprise
40 percent of the final project grade. (2) An individual paper, 10-12
pages in length, in which you present your main findings and assess
the main strengths and weaknesses of the particular analytical
approach you applied, counting for 60 percent of the final project
grade.

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Evaluating assessment (as part of teaching/syllabus evaluation)
1. Are the assignments and assessments chosen to reflect course goals? Is there
evidence for such linkage?
2. Is the examination content representative of the course content and
objectives?
3. Is there a sufficient diversity of assessment methods used?
4. Are the assignments and tasks sufficiently challenging?
5. Do the assignments encourage deep, active, reflective learning?
6. Have the assessment methods used in the course been well designed?
7. Are the standards and marking criteria used for grading communicated to
the students in the course syllabus?
8. Are the examination questions clearly written?
9. Are students given ample time to complete the assignments and take-home
examinations?
10. Are the examinations and papers graded fairly?
11. Is the grade distribution appropriate to the level of the course and the type
of students enrolled?
12. Are the examinations and papers returned to the students in a timely
fashion?
13. Is the feedback provided to students meaningful and helpful?
14. How do students perform in more advanced courses?

29. 29
Course Alignment
How are different parts of the course connected?
(Is there a clear, logical connection?)